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One Piece Episode 1013 aired this past Saturday, March 5, and with it finally brought Yamato’s flashback to meeting Ace. Additionally, Tobi Roppo re-introductions continued, formally reintroducing all the Tobi Roppo across One Piece Episodes 1013 and 1012.
One Piece Episode 1013 was a pleasure to watch, with pacing problems previous episodes have had no longer present. Whether or not this will continue remains to be seen, but it was an enjoyable and welcome change of pace.
This article breaks down One Piece Episode 1013 in its entirety.
One Piece Episode 1013 brings fan-favorite Ace back in the fold
One Piece Episode 1013: Continuing Tobi Roppo re-introductions
One Piece Episode 1013 begins with its title card over a black screen, revealing the episode's title to be 'Yamato’s Past! The Man Who Came for an Emperor of the Sea!'
Beginning with its story content, Sanji is seen running away from Black Maria in the third floor banquet hall. He’s still tied up, and being pursued by her forces.
Black Maria removes her kimono while chastising Sanji, teasing her hybrid form of her Devil Fruit. Going back to Sanji, he continues running but is eventually caught by the now present Black Maria and her spider webs. She’s formally reintroduced here, with her Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit revealed to be the Spider-Spider Fruit: Rosamygale Grauvogeli model.
She tells Sanji to stay here forever and become her bet, which Sanji refuses. He then begins lamenting how many women are around, but lets his habits get the better of him by asking if this is heaven. She says she’ll open heaven’s door for him when the scene suddenly changes.
One Piece Episode 1013 then shifts perspective to Luffy, who’s being chased by some Beast Pirates fodder. He uses a Third Gear punch to blow them away, knocking them through a nearby wall. This rattles the nearby area, evident when perspective yet again changes to Jinbe and Who’s Who.
Who’s Who comments that Luffy going ahead will cause trouble for Kaido, seemingly lamenting this fact. He then asks Jinbe to stop bullying his subordinates, before being reintroduced. His Devil Fruit is revealed to be the Ancient Zoan Cat-Cat Fruit: Saber-toothed Tiger model. With this, all six Tobi Roppo have been officially reintroduced.
Who’s Who teases Jinbe, asking him how he can be so childish for an ex-Warlord. After Jinbe responds, preferring to be called the Straw Hat Helmsman, he reveals he saw Jinbe once while he was a Warlord.
He further teases that they may have been on the same side, implying a former association with the World Government. Jinbe asks who he is, but doesn’t get an answer. In response, Jinbe says he’ll take Who’s Who’s mask off to reveal exactly who he is.
One Piece Episode 1013: Yamato and Ace flashback
One Piece Episode 1013 then brings fans to the Forbidden Storehouse, where Momonosuke, Shinobu, and Yamato are hiding out. Yamato is bandaging Shinobu’s wounds, when suddenly she begins laughing. She tells Momonosuke she’s just remembering her fight with Ace, prompting a flashback to their meeting.
The flashback begins with Ace and his Spade Pirates being on their ship, heading to Onigashima to rescue kidnapped children. The crew lands in Onigashima, easily dealing with some Beast Pirates fodder before entering the castle. Upon entering, they realize it’s completely empty.
Suddenly, Yamato rushes Ace from above. Ace easily dodges and counters, which sends her flying into a nearby wall. This prompts more Beast Pirates fodder to run out and reveal themselves, all rushing the Spade Pirates. Ace uses his Devil Fruit to deal with them, before telling his crew to go find the children.
As they leave, Yamato gets back on her feet and rushes Ace again. They each demand the other’s name, with Ace being the first to introduce himself. The two continue clashing, while perspective shifts to the Spade Pirates, who’ve just found the children in Onigashima’s prison cells.
Meanwhile, Ace and Yamato are still clashing, when the Spade Pirates return with the children and news of not seeing Kaido. Yamato confirms this, saying her father and the Beast Pirate officers have left on an expedition. She finally introduces herself to Ace here as well, telling them to leave with the children while expressing her distaste for their capture.
The Spade Pirates then head to Wano with the children, while Ace stays behind with Yamato. The two begin talking about why she isn’t at sea if she’s so strong, with her blaming Kaido. This prompts an image of Roger to flash in Ace’s mind, who then reminds her that she can’t choose her parents.
This begins a flashback to his childhood, where he remembers hearing everyone trash Roger and his life, as well as his hypothetical son. Fans also see Ace getting into fights over these claims, with the flashback ending on Garp trying to tell him that he’ll understand one day.
Coming out of the flashback, Yamato tells him to shut up and that she already knows that. This prompts her own flashback to her childhood, where she’s seen being cuffed and locked up by Kaido. He tells her she has no reason to leave the island, and that all she has to worry about is becoming a good son by growing stronger.
Coming out of her flashback, she finds herself being asked by Ace why she’s letting the cuffs shackle her heart, as well. This resonates with Yamato, while he continues asking her what she really wants to do. This causes her to look at Kaido’s dragon statue, which seemingly stirs a memory of him attacking her.
She drops her kanabo, clearly scared and startled by the memory. However, she eventually calms down, remembering Oden, his death, and the adventures he had at sea. She picks her kanabo back up and attacks Kaido’s dragon statue. Yamato admits to Ace that she was holding herself back.
Yamato continues, saying what she truly wants is to go to sea, have an adventure, and live freely like Oden did. Ace smiles, then attacks the statue himself, while telling her that she knows what she has to do now. She smiles, agreeing with him while admiring the now broken statue.
The two continue talking, with Yamato wanting to know about Ace’s adventures. He agrees to tell her, and night falls as they talk. He tells her about his childhood experiences with Luffy, causing them both to laugh. She asks about people on the seas, which prompts Ace to talk about rookies like Cavendish, Kid, Law, and Bege.
Ace emphasizes, however, that the toughest of them all hasn’t set sail yet. He reveals this to be Luffy, reminding Yamato that he’s his little brother. This causes her to tease him for always talking about his brother, pinching his cheek while doing so. He pinches her cheek in return, and the two laugh heartily as the flashback ends.
One Piece Episode 1013: Ace’s will
Back in the present, Yamato explains to Momonosuke that she’s the one who broke the statue first. Ace did damage to it as a way of warning Kaido that he would return to fight him one day. She says it made her father angry, but he never got a chance to meet Ace.
The use of the word father confuses Momonosuke and Shinobu, prompting Yamato to explain that Kaido is her father. This causes the two of them to become scared and go into hiding. However, she reminds them that she hates her father and views herself as Oden.
Eventually, the two come back next to her and continue talking. They ask her where Ace is now, which prompts Yamato to tell them he unfortunately died two years ago. Immediately after this, One Piece Episode 1013 shows Nami’s group. It seems they were also discussing Ace, with her asking Otama if she really knew him.
She confirms this, saying they were close, and that she wanted to become a kunoichi for his sake. She then criticizes Luffy’s harshness in telling her that Ace had unfortunately died two years ago. Nami apologizes upon hearing this, saying that’s how Luffy is. She continues, saying it was hard for him too since he lost Ace in front of his eyes.
One Piece Episode 1013 yet again shifts perspective here, back to Momonosuke and Yamato, where the latter says she has been waiting for Ace’s brother, Luffy. She says that he has inherited his will, and will be the one to help her take Kaido down and free Wano.
In One Piece Episode 1013’s final moments, Luffy is seen fighting more Beast Pirate fodder. While Yamato talks of Ace’s will, he ignites a Gum-Gum Red Hawk, symbolic of his brother living on through him today. As he launches the attack at the fodder, One Piece Episode 1013 comes to an end.
One Piece Episode 1013: In summation
One Piece Episode 1013 is a refreshing change of pace to recent episodes of the series. Pacing problems that have been endlessly cited were nowhere to be found, and Yamato and Ace’s flashback was extremely well done. The anime does a fantastic job with the additional scenes not seen in the manga version of the flashback.
While pacing issues may return in the next episode, One Piece Episode 1013 at least provides a welcome break from them. Manga fans are excited for the anime to finally be reaching “Roof Piece,” a much-praised section of the Onigashima Raid showcasing a certain rooftop conflict.
Be sure to follow along for more One Piece anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2022 progresses.
